“A plan in the Swiss Alps to tidy up Romansh—spoken by less than one per cent of the country—set off a decades-long quarrel over identity, belonging, and the sound of authenticity.”

Romansh is spoken by less than one percent of Switzerland’s population. A plan to standardize it—to “tidy up” the language—set off decades of quarrel over identity and belonging. The fight over this very small language became a very big one, with speakers divided over what counts as authentic and who gets to decide.